Fantastic Four #21: Reed’s Stretchy Body 53

Fantastic Four #21, page 16, panel 5

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: George Bell

Lettered by: Art Simek

This is one of my favourite panels of the Fantastic Four ever.

Really.

I just love the idea of Reed kneeling down next to this piece of Kirby tech, his fingers probing through the ground looking for the power cables. I also love imagining that, just out of shot, his fingers start dividing into thinner tendrils, like roots. It doesn’t happen – regardless of what he does with his body, he always maintains the basic structure of the human body – but it’s lovely to imagine!